Under new proposal city would track 311 abusers

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It’s the place thousands of people turn to every day for questions, complaints and comments about living in New York City.

311 receives an average 45,000 calls a day (even more when the weather is bad or a big event happens).

The topics include reports of noise violations, potholes, construction issues and trash.

City agencies have a certain number of day to address the complaints.

New York City Councilmember Steven Matteo, who represents Staten Island, says the service is being used to harass some neighbors.

Matteo has proposed a bill that addresses the response to certain repeat anonymous complaints against the same property. If more than 3 anonymous complaints are made against a property in a 6-month period and found to be unsubstantiated, the property would be classified as “harassed.” Further anonymous reports would be documented but not referred to an agency.

“We want people to call 311,” Matteo says. “We don’t want them to use it as a harassment tool and waste resources.”

311 is sometimes criticized by neighbors for the follow-up response departments provide on the website.

The proposal has been assigned to the Governmental Operations Committee with several co-sponsors.